Clutch
Description:
Clutch measures how well a player performed in high leverage situations. It’s calculated using WPA and WPA/LI, and it compares a player’s performance against himself. For example, a player who hits .300 in high leverage situations when he’s an overall .300 hitter is not considered clutch.
Context:
The majority of players in the league end up with Clutch scores between 1 and -1, with zero being neutral, positive scores being “clutch”, and negative scores being “choke”. Only a few players each year are lucky enough (or unlucky enough) to have extreme Clutch scores.
2010 Clutch Values
Things to Remember:
- Clutch does a good job of describing the past, but it does very little towards predicting the future. Simply because one player was clutch at one point does not mean they will continue to perform well in high-leverage situations. For example, here’s Alex Rodriguez’s last five years of Clutch scores (most recent to least recent): 1.44, 0.95, -3.17, 0.97, -1.40. No continuity at all.
Links for Further Reading:
Get to Know: Clutch – FanGraphs
The Concept of “Clutch” – Baseball Prospectus
Is David Ortiz Really Mr. Clutch? – ESPN/Nate Silver
Clutchiness Breakdown – FanGraphs
1
If the league avg is -.20, does this mean we can assume pitchers were slightly above averagely clutchy last year? Does this show up year to year? If so does this mean that it’s easier to pitch than hit in high leverage situations?
Great questions…I’ll need to get back to you on those. I’m assuming that if had expanded my sample to include all major-league players, the actual MLB average would have been closer to zero (or actually zero).
Lee, the answer is yes. It is consistently true that defense tends to come out ahead on Clutch, thanks to bullpen usage.
Steve, love what you’re doing here. In this case, it would be helpful to post the actual formula. For instance, which is divided by which?